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Fyrir ofan bæinn Gil á Kjalarnesi er Vallárgil. Í gilinu rennur lækur sem myndar oft góð íshöft sem hafa má meira gaman af en ætla mætti í fyrstu. Höfðu Ísalparar einmitt komist að sömu niðurstöðu árið 2008. En aldrei var leiðin skráð og engar myndir voru til.  Halldór og Ágúst voru búnir að keyra framhjá þessum ís í aðstæðum nokkrum sinnum en voru alltaf á leið í önnur verkefni. Svo kom þó að tímaþröng gerði þennan kost vænlegan og er því leiðin loksins skráð hér.

Aðkoma

Beygt af Þjóðvegi 1 við skilti sem vísar á bæinn Gil. Þessi vegur er keyrður framhjá bænum og svo beygt til hægri við fyrsta tækifæri (þetta er sýnt með seinni bláu örinni á kortinu). Sá slóði er keyrður að gilinu og síðasti hlutinn genginn (brotalína á korti).  Gangan tekur rúmlega 30 mínútur. Í fyrstu gæti virst að hún tæki skemmri tíma en eins og alltaf þá er ísinn fjærri en hugurinn vill halda.

Klifrið

Þrjú íshöft eru í gilinu að jafnaði. Þau tvö fyrri eru nálægt hvort öðru og því hentugt að klifra þau í einni spönn. Dugir að hafa 60m línu til þess. Síðasta haftið er nokkuð ofar og þarf því að ganga í gilinu til að komast að því.

Varðandi erfiðleika þá geta klifrar valið sér leiðir eftur hentugleik. Fyrsta haftið hefði verið hægt að klifra sem WI3+ en við kusum meiri áskorun, upp brattasta hlutann þar sem stígið var út á hangandi grýlukerti í lok leiðar. Sú leið mundi flokkast sem WI4 og kannski rúmlega það. Haft númer tvö var einnig farið þar sem ísinn var brattastur og mundi það flokkast sem WI4+. Síðasta haftið var í krefjandi aðstæðum þar sem stærðarinnar regnhlíf hafði myndast efst og engin leið upp nema undir og yfir regnhlífina. Það var mikið gaman, sérstaklega þar sem ísinn var sterkur og hélt þegar hælkrókur var tekinn til að komast upp. Þetta síðasta haft sem var okkar seinni spönn flokkast því sem WI5 einfaldlega útaf síðustu hreyfingunum. Að öðru leyti var sá hluti þægileg WI4 leið.

Heilt yfir er ferð í gilið góð skemmtun og ekki skemmir alpafílingurinn fyrir. Flestir ættu að geta fundið sér eitthvað við hæfi. Hugsanlega dregur úr skemmtun og erfiðleikum eftir því sem snjór hleðst í gilið. Kannski er heldur ekki skynsamlegt að klifra þarna í miklum snjó vegna hættu á flóði, en um það verður auðvitað hver að dæma fyrir sig.

Niðurferð

Líklega er hægt að finna niðurgönguleið í hlíðinni sunnan við gilið en við kusum að síga niður, enda höfðum við líka skilið eftir bakpoka okkar í gilinu. Þar sem við vorum bara með eina 60m línu þá þurftum við þrjár V-þræðingar til þess. Með tveimur 60m línum þá myndi fækka um eina þræðingu.

Route 1 in the overview picture.

85m WI4

The first pitch starts with 10-15 meters of WI4, but becomes WI3 after that. There is plenty of good ledges after the first wall of ice.  Climbers have therefore multiple options in how to divide this route into two pitches. We did it in a 50m and then a 35m (WI3) pitch. This route can be a good choice for climbers where one is looking for a slightly harder lead while the other is looking for a more comfortable climb, the former would lead the first pitch while the latter would take the second pitch. This way both parties would have fun at their respective level.

The blue line on the topo shows a variation for the second pitch which is probably a bit more challenging.

Descent

There is no descent gully in close proximity so rappelling down the route on V-threads is the recommended method.

First Ascent

This route has not been documented before so we give it a name and rating. The name, “Just Foreplay”, is considered descriptive because the route starts with exciting moves but nothing of significance happens after that. Climbed by Ágúst Kristján Steinarsson and Halldor Fannar 21st of January 2024.

Sector B on the map. This is a continous 100m wide wall of ice that was therefore named “Digri” (Husky). You can read about the approach on the overview page for Hvalfjörður.

“Digri” is below a number of ponds and should therefore provide early season fun and stay that way for most of winter. Due to the proximity to the ocean it should rarely be too cold and the surf creates a cozy ambiance.

Routes are about 20 meters high and range from 3 to 4 depending on line chosen. A great place to practice and have fun.

FF. Ágúst Kristján Steinarrsson og Halldór Fannar  10th of December, 2023

Winter 2023 was unusually cold; it was the coldest winter in southwest Iceland for a hundred years. This created unique conditions in the canyon below Glymur and for the waterfall itself. On January 17th that year, an Icelander living in Italy and an Italian living in Iceland ventured into the canyon with a mission to climb any of the established sought-after routes in this magnificent setting. However, due to the unique conditions and the old pencil-drawn topos on isalp.is being extremely confusing, they ended up climbing a new route. During the climb they thought they might be on Sacrifice (WI5+) or a variation of Draumaleiðin (WI5+) but it turned out to be neither. 

It became apparent that this section of Glymur hadn’t been climbed before. Watching  old videos and pictures the reason was also apparent – that section was never frozen. Instead, it was a booming waterfall with ice on both sides. Sacrifice is to the left of this flow while Draumaleiðin is on the right side, and even further right – since it goes up the canyon wall on the right and climbers will top out on the south side of the canyon.

For the first half the new route goes up towards the jaws of Glymur – where the flow is strongest. This part contained a full pitch of overhanging cauliflower ice formations with tricky protection. It was full commitment climbing requiring ice climbing in all three dimensions. In keeping with the mouth analogy the ice formations resembled the crooked teeth of an enormous giant. For the second half the waterfall was still partially open so the route veers to the right of the main flow to avoid the spray. In Icelandic the name is “Gin Glyms”, since gin means open mouth in Icelandic and alliteration is cherished by the natives. Gin & tonic may also have played a part in the naming.

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This is the first route you will notice once down on the seashore (see pictures). It is also the first route climbed in this new area.

It’s difficult to get further than the first sector, due to crashing waves. Tides will of course play a part but when we visited the cliffs some waves were breaking on the ice and we consider ourselves lucky to have made it up on the ice ledge before the largest waves broke. The ledge was like a balcony of ice, where the ocean would sometimes slosh underneath.

The route was named “Icebath” due to the ice cold water spray that forms the fat icicle on the second pitch. This ice water spray was still going strong when we climbed and made the pitch more challenging.

Pitch 1: About 30 meters WI3+, various options for building an anchor but be mindful of overhead ice. We chose a location with this in mind but it will never qualify as a perfectly safe location.

Pitch 2: About 12 meters WI4+/5, starts with a traversal to the right but then goes straight up, where the icicle is steepest but also has the best ice. Due to the ice bath it’s best to climb this section fast and deliberately.

FA Halldór Fannar and Ágúst Kristján Steinarrsson 17. march 2023

The route starts just to the left of the “Blue route” but begins with a traverse to the left. Then climb a 10m (WI4+) vertical section of ice (which can be coated with a thin layer of snow). After this, traverse again to the left and set up an anchor. This is on a solid ledge and the route “Kiddi” starts there, a bit further to the left.  But instead of heading there traverse back to the right and then straight up a 20m (WI4+) vertical section of good blue ice.  After this section there is about 30m (WI3+) of climbing with alternating ice and snow.  During the first ascent a v-thread in good ice was built underneath the rock outcrop and the route rappelled on two 60m ropes. There was a large cornice of snow above (no ice) and the rock provided psychological shelter.

The name of the route is a reference to the “Blue Route” and the fact that ice had a lighter shade of blue.

60m

FA: Halldór Fannar og Ágúst Kristján Steinarrsson, Feb. 17th, 2022